CCTV News:The State Council Information Office held a series of themed press conferences on "Promoting High-Quality Development" on May 21, at which relevant officials from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region introduced related developments. At the press conference, the relevant official stated that Xinjiang will further enhance its capacity to supply grain and important agricultural products, and in 2024 will strive to keep total cotton output above 5 million tons and increase grain output by at least another 2 billion jin.

According to the introduction, in 2023 Xinjiang's grain planting area reached 42.372 million mu, an increase of 5.863 million mu, accounting for more than 60 percent of the national increase; grain output reached 42.38 billion jin, an increase of 6.11 billion jin, accounting for more than 30 percent of the national increase; grain yield per unit area reached 1,000 jin. The increase in grain area and the increase in output ranked first in the country for two consecutive years, and yield per unit area ranked second in the country. As a national high-quality cotton base, Xinjiang's total cotton output and yield per unit area have ranked first in the country for 30 consecutive years.

Erkin Tuniyaz, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, stated that Xinjiang will further enhance its capacity to supply grain and important agricultural products. By actively making good use of Xinjiang's favorable natural climate conditions and abundant arable land resources and tapping the potential of water resources, Xinjiang will strive in 2024 to keep total cotton output above 5 million tons and increase grain output by at least another 2 billion jin, building a "granary of the West" and putting more "Xinjiang grain" into the "Chinese bowl."

Erkin Tuniyaz stated that Xinjiang will focus on developing agriculture-related industrial clusters such as grain and oil, cotton and textiles and apparel, green and organic fruits and vegetables, and high-quality livestock products. It will promote more high-quality agricultural products, such as Kashgar pomegranates, Aksu apples, and Hotan red dates, into the homes of people across the country. In addition, Xinjiang will solidly advance the construction of high-standard farmland and efficient water-saving irrigation, deeply implement the seed industry revitalization action, and intensify efforts to tackle core agricultural technologies such as high-yield cultivation and pest and disease control, so as to boost high-quality agricultural development.

　　Xinjiang: Building a National Strategic Guarantee Base for Energy and Resources

The State Council Information Office held a series of themed press conferences on "Promoting High-Quality Development" on May 21. The relevant official introduced that Xinjiang is accelerating the construction of a new-type power system, increasing oil and gas reserves and production, promoting clean and efficient coal utilization, and advancing the exploration, development, and utilization of mineral resources, actively building a national strategic guarantee base for energy and resources and providing important energy and resource support for advancing Chinese modernization.

According to the introduction, Xinjiang's oil and gas production equivalent has ranked first in the country for three consecutive years. Next, Xinjiang will consolidate and upgrade advantageous industries, accelerate efforts to increase oil and gas reserves and production, release advanced and high-quality coal production capacity, and continuously extend the industrial chain downstream. At the same time, it will cultivate and strengthen emerging industries and open up new tracks for clean energy. In 2023, solar and wind power generation accounted for 4.6 percent and 7.3 percent of the national total, respectively, and the scale of newly added grid-connected new energy ranked second in the country, turning the once vast Gobi desert into today's "feng shui treasure land" for the development of new energy and other industries.

Erkin Tuniyaz stated that Xinjiang will accelerate the construction of clean energy bases such as wind power and photovoltaics, continue to promote the large-scale and intensive development of new material industries such as silicon-based and aluminum-based materials, and vigorously build a new-type power system, achieving coordinated development of the "blue" of photovoltaics, the "yellow" of the desert, and the "green" of ecology.

Xinjiang will also focus on transforming and upgrading traditional industries, accelerating digital and intelligent transformation, and vigorously supporting enterprises in introducing new technologies and new models to promote equipment renewal and process upgrading.

According to the introduction, the country's new round of strategic action for mineral exploration breakthroughs has designated 120 key mineral exploration areas in Xinjiang, ranking first in the country. Next, Xinjiang will make every effort to advance the exploration, development, and utilization of important mineral resources, making Xinjiang's contribution to safeguarding China's energy resources and the security of important industrial and supply chains.

　　Xinjiang: Advancing Beneficial Livelihood Projects and Striving to Safeguard and Improve People's Livelihood

At the press conference, the relevant official introduced that in recent years Xinjiang has continued to advance a number of beneficial livelihood projects, focusing on major livelihood issues of greatest concern to the people, such as education, employment, medical care, and housing, and striving to safeguard and improve people's livelihood.

According to the introduction, Xinjiang has continued to increase investment in educational resources, and urban and rural areas in southern Xinjiang have achieved 15-year free education from kindergarten to high school. Across Xinjiang, there is on average one kindergarten for every 102 young children and one primary school for every 783 primary school students, and the gross enrollment rate at the high school stage has reached 98.25 percent.

In terms of employment, in 2023 the region achieved 482,200 new urban jobs, and urban families with zero employment have remained dynamically cleared.

In terms of medical care, high-quality medical resources have been channeled down to the grassroots, and a medical and health service network covering urban and rural areas has basically been established. Now every village has a standardized clinic, and county-level hospitals can provide telemedicine, realizing the goal that "minor illnesses are treated within the village, common illnesses within the township, and major illnesses within the county."

In terms of housing, a total of 2.7 million earthquake-resistant rural homes have been built across Xinjiang, and more than 11 million farmers and herdsmen have moved into new homes.